WE THE MAKERS SUSTAINABLE FASHION PRIZE Exploring Fashion’s Sustainable Future through the Next Generation of Fashion Designers

Æ Celebrating the emerging world of sustainable fibre and textiles through emerging fashion makers and courageous designers, the inspiring We The Makers Sustainable Fashion Prize has returned to the regional city of Geelong.

Aligned with the Geelong UNESCO City of Design designation, the We The Makers Sustainable Fashion Prize takes place every two years and challenges the next generation of fashion designers to create one original outfit that represents their design aesthetic and showcases their commitment to sustainable fashion.

It is the only sustainable fashion prize offered in Australia for emerging designers with less than ten years of industry experience and is open to designers worldwide. Attracting over 100 expressions of interest from Australian and international designers this year alone, We the Makers truly champions the future of design, Geelong’s status as a creative city, and Geelong’s ongoing role in the wool, fibre and textile industries.

With a swathe of emerging designers, bold, dynamic and exciting designs and $10,000 that will help establish the career of a talented designer, just 20 emerging designers were shortlisted to win the We the Makers Sustainable Fashion Prize for 2023.

Moving beyond ethical supply chains, this year’s designers took bold approaches when repurposing garments and accessories. Designers embraced reviving traditional and near-forgotten methods, dying using organic botanicals and creating with purpose using slow fashion approaches.

Among the shortlisted designers for 2023 include Geelong creatives Lazarus Gordon with their design The Bride; JasmineSkye Marinos with Kaweerr Koorran Dress, Emily Rastas with Electric Avenue , and Portarlington’s Kate VM Sylvester with My Favourite T-shirt

Impressive creations from Melbourne designers were also featured, including Jedda Bahloo’s hmm...must have missed it…, Amy Forbes and Caitlin Mullaly (Veils of Cirrus) with Hemlock Three Piece Suit, and Baaqiy Ghazali’s Decay , among others, while Sydney designers Samara Darling and Jordan Gogos feature with their masterpieces, Open Voices and Very woolly , respectively.

This year the We The Makers Sustainable Fashion Prize 2023 also attracted entries from across the world, including designers Gakuki Ito from Niigata, Japan; Steven Junil Park from Otautahi Christchurch, Aotearoa New Zealand; Vida Straseviciute from Kaunas, Lithuania; and Eliz Yusuf from London, United Kingdom.

“The response to We The Makers Sustainable Fashion Prize 2023 has been phenomenal,” says Senior Curator National Wool Museum Josephine Rout.

“It is clear from the breadth and depth of submissions that for the next generation of designers, sustainability is no longer an afterthought, but is embedded within their practice. The finalists are leaders for change in fashion.”

Judged by a panel of international industry experts, Melbourne-based designer Canwen Zho has taken out the major prize. Canwen Zhao is a multidisciplinary fashion designer currently based in Melbourne. With a background in Chinese painting and further studies in fashion and art, Zhao brings a unique aesthetic vision to her practice.

The winning design, 35 Life , provides playful solutions to the increasing environmental threat of sun exposure. The metamorphic piece, which can be worn in multiple ways and packed down into a bag, is made from functional and decorative materials. Both the colours and the form are indebted to historic Chinese dress but reimagined for a contemporary wearer.

Transitioning from a competition to a prolific showcase, the We The Makers exhibition is now open at Geelong’s National Wool Museum, displaying Zhao’s winning design alongside the 19 other shortlisted outfits for everyone to enjoy.

True designers of the future, the works within the curated group exhibition are incredibly diverse and innovative with an unapologetic commitment to sustainable and ethical practices, providing a wonderful opportunity for those looking to sneak a peek at the fashion of the future and for the designers included.

Zhao’s winning garment will join the City’s Collection of Sustainable Fashion after the exhibition.

While the judges have already made their selections, as part of the major biennial program, the top 20 designers featured in the exhibition are all eligible for the Geelong UNESCO City of Design People’s Choice Award of $2,000, with the prize announced during Geelong Design Week in October 2023.

Upon exploring the exhibition within the iconic National Wool Museum building, the public can vote for their favourite makers. Voting is open now with one vote allowed per day for a favourite maker. All voters go into the running to win a 12-month subscription to Peppermint Magazine.

We

THE MAKERS SUSTAINABLE FASHION PRIZE

WHERE: NATIONAL WOOL MUSEUM, GEELONG

WHEN: UNTIL 29 OCT

WORDS BY ALEX CALLAN

THE TESKEY BROTHERS The Winding Way

Æ The Teskey Brothers were always going to take out this issue’s feature album. How could they not? There’s just something so monumental about them that makes each new release that they bring out to feel like you’re witnessing history unfold in front of you. It’s as if every album in their catalogue is destined to go on to become timeless Australian treasures in the years following their release.

Their first two albums - Half Mile Harvest (2017), and the Grammy-nominated Run Home Slow (2019) - already have, with the Warrandyte-raised brothers finding stardom as R&B/Soul megastars both at home and away before taking some time to step away and focus on side projects.

So naturally, the news that the brothers were planning on returning for album number three sent most fans into an absolute frenzy, however, the coinciding announcements that it would be recorded amid a new lineup, and with acclaimed dance music producer Eric J Dubowsky (Flume, Chet Faker, Chemical Brothers) were met with trepidation by a handful of online commenters fearful that the group were drastically changing up their sound.

And while those commenters were right – the group have changed it up – they’ve done so in the best ways possible, with Dubowsky’s subtle touch helping The Teskey Brothers to deliver their most stunning, yet adventurous album to date. Fuller in tone and less formulaic in approach, The Winding Way sees The Teskey Brothers dive head-first into a wealth of rich textures and instruments previously unexplored by the group, all while maintaining the integrity, power and levity of their first two releases.

Opener ‘I’m Leaving’ is one for the purists, keeping its cards close to its chest with classic Teskey Brother’s sensibilities– Josh’s voice is as powerful as ever, as is Sam’s minute yet deliberate strums. It’ll have you feeling at home immediately.

‘Oceans Of Emotions’ evokes the same feeling, with its mo-town/gospel harmonics destined to be a favourite amongst longtime fans of the group’s bluegrass roots. ‘London Bridge’ changes it up, organically dabbling into the free-flowing tempo changes of electronic music through a myriad of powerful hooks and well-placed breaks.

In a similar vein ‘This Will Be Our Year’ maintains impressive tempo changes through meticulous drum fills and cymbal work, while ‘Blind Without You’ goes in a different direction again, contrasting winding horn arrangements and uplifting folk melodies alongside Josh’s wounded, emotionally driven vocal delivery.

In other moments of experimentation, the brothers triumphantly try their hand at Pink Floyd-ian psychedelic guitar solos in ‘Rich Man’ and powerful blues rock harmonies in ‘What Will Be’.

There is truly not a skippable moment. An album that will surprise many but still feel at home for most, The Winding Way displays The Teskey Brothers in their finest form yet.

RELEASE: 16 JUN

LABEL: IVY LEAGUE RECORDS

GHOST ORCHID Ghost Orchid

Æ Ghost Orchid can only be described in one word: masterful. And I’m not just saying that because they are my colleagues (Matt Wilkinson and Nathan Mossop), I truly mean it. Ghost Orchid’s self-titled debut album blew me away.

With each song delivered with a clear point of difference from one another, it is a debut that offers up a wealth of easy-listening folk-rock soundscapes that will undoubtedly strike a chord with many.

From the naturalistic foley that ushers you in on ‘Bloom’, to the methodical layering of guitars that awaits you on ‘Middlemist Red’, you will find yourself immediately immersed in Ghost Orchid’s lush array of sounds.

‘Jade Vine’ channels glorious, carefree indie-folk qualities that will resonate with fans of Vance Joy and Ziggy Alberts, ‘Bird Of Paradise’ adds a soulful R&B groove to Wilkinson’s vocal delivery, while ‘Cherry Blossom’ distils the jovial vibrancy of a children’s choir adjacent to its alt-pop tonal qualities.

Toying with a more sombre edge, ‘Ivy Leave’ delicately balances layers of overlapping vocal harmonies alongside powerful string-based crescendos and subtle hand percussion. Title track ‘Ghost Orchid’, on the other hand, hones in on the duo’s conceptual nature, evoking feelings of desert landscapes as sporadic spaghetti-western backing vocals and singular kick drum patterns pound alongside Mossop’s tech-heavy riff work.

As previously stated, the album only be described as masterful. Holistic in its vision and methodical in its execution, Ghost Orchid’s debut is truly a magnificent first effort.

RELEASE: OUT NOW

LABEL: THERE & BACK AGAIN RECORDS

Big Star

Æ Considering the name that Katy Steele made for herself as the lead presence of Little Birdy, her debut solo album Human should have received more attention than it did.

Released in 2016, Human marked itself as a transformative album for Steele, offering soulful disco grooves and synthheavy ambience as a stark replacement for the melancholic post-grunge stylings of her work in Little Birdy.

But while it was an album that saw Steele experimenting with her sound in exciting new ways, it was a release that fell flat with its shelf-life largely struggling to maintain prominence past a short run on triple j’s ‘What’s New’ rotation.

The same won’t be said about her second studio album Big Star

Sure, it continues to propel the anthemic pop stylings that some Little Birdy fans struggled to connect with on Human, but this time around it feels much more memorable, with Big Star delivering a powerful blend of Steele’s iconic vocals alongside the greatest elements of pop music, both modern and nostalgic.

‘Come And See Me’ ties in ‘80s synthpop ambience with shimmery Fleetwood Mac-inspired earworm melodies, ‘Falling Apart’ melds lo-fi techno sensibilities alongside sparkly alt-pop rhythms while title track ‘Big Star’ sees Steele experiment with elements of gospel in her vocal cadence.

While it’s evident that Big Star was written from a much happier perspective than Steele’s work in Little Birdy, it does feel like it has less to say. But with grand arrangements, synth-heavy tonal qualities and shimmering pop-rooted guitars now acting as the pillars of Steele’s sound, you’ll still have a lot of fun along the way.

The Toads

In The Wilderness

Æ Anti Fade is more than just a record label. They have that whole Fast and the Furious ‘it’s all about family’ vibe going on with members from almost every band on their roster chopping and changing to lend their services to their mates’ newest side project. And somehow, every new project that the label boasts not only maintains a distinct flavour from one another, they seemingly get better and better.

The Toads are their newest offering. Finding their sound between the thin-wire garage rock guitar tones of Article 58 and the geeky, yet stoic nature of proto-punks The Modern Lovers, The Toads mark themselves as newcomers worth keeping an eye on.

Their debut In the Wilderness showcases the group’s self-described brand of ‘nervy post-punk scuffle’ with finesse–marrying sharp, tinny guitar tones with echoes of disco quirk and gothic drawl. Miles Jansen’s naturally despondent vocals uphold the group’s sound, with his nonchalant demeanour and deadpan delivery maintaining the angst and boredom of UK garage punk, whilst simultaneously channelling adding an adjacent playful larrikin wit.

Through a combination of ragged 1970s surf-punk riffs (‘Two Dozen Functions’), humdrum Brit-Pop melodies (‘Gimme Little More’), and minimalistic post-punk rhythms (‘The Next Door’), In the Wilderness marks itself as a debut release that continues to push the scope of Melbourne’s ever emerging DIY punk scene in refreshing new ways, while still giving a stern nod to the influences that have come before it.

BONES AND JONES

Love You

Æ Bones and Jones have been onto a pretty winning formula since day dot, so if they never changed their style and just continued to rehash the bluesy folkrock stylings of their first few releases, we wouldn’t even be mad— we’d be stoked.

But lucky for us, the Bellarine-based outfit wanted to offer up something new with their newest release Love You, migrating into a world of psychedelic synth tones, lap steel harmonics and swaggering rock and roll riffs.

Essentially, the band are heading in the direction that so many of us were hoping for after the group dropped ‘Reckless’ and we are here for it.

Arriving as the first of many surprises, opener ‘Oh Day’ sees the group’s vocalist Jasper Jolley adopt a hazy, subdued nature to his delivery, imbuing dreamlike qualities akin to the likes of Sufjan Stevens or Fleet Foxes. ‘Be The Best Man At My Wedding’ further differentiates the group’s sound, adding layers of garage-rock dissonance through its use of deftly organised lap steel guitars and rapid-fire drumrolls.

The real gems on the album, however, are ‘Ain’t It Hard’ and ‘Jump Rope’, which see the group deliver some of their most ambitious and adventurous pieces yet, with Tom Maschio’s exploration of synths propelling the group sound to ethereal new heights.

All in all, Love You is a refreshing change-up from the much-loved and fast-rising indie rock outfit.